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Hospitalizations are climbing amid new restrictive measures in the two Metro Vancouver health authorities.

COVID-19 hospitalizations up 33 per cent in BC

By Hannah Scott, Local Journalism Initiative reporter

Published 4:06 PST, Mon November 9, 2020

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After introducing new preventative measures in the Metro Vancouver area on Saturday, provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry today announced an exponential increase in the COVID-19 hospitalizations.

Across BC, there are 133 people in hospital, 33 more than on Saturday. Forty-three of those people are in critical care, up from 31 on Saturday. There were five new deaths over the two-day period, three in the Fraser Health region and two in the Vancouver Coastal Health region, for a total of 281 since the pandemic began.

Henry said the goal has been to maintain the healthcare system capacity, protect those who are most vulnerable and keep as much going as possible in communities. Interim Health Minister Adrian Dix says BC’s hospital occupancy is “quite strong at the moment,” with 65 per cent occupancy currently reported in the Vancouver Coastal Health authority. Healthcare providers continue to perform a record number of weekly surgeries.

Henry clarified that new regional orders are in place for two weeks because that is the incubation period of the virus. The new cases emerging now are people who were infected five to 14 days ago, she said, and over the next two weeks she hopes to see the numbers come down.

“The purpose of these orders is to break those chains of transmission, and we know that those transmissions were happening at a rapid rate in some parts of our province,” Henry said.

People becoming infected in the Fraser and Vancouver Coastal Health regions were mainly happening in other people’s homes as well as a number of workplaces, indoor group physical activities and travel around the province.

“Orders are a last resort, but they are what we need to put in place right now to address those ares where we were seeing transmission happening and expanding rapidly,” said Henry.

Similar to March and April, she said people should focus only on essential activities like buying groceries as well as medical treatments and surgeries. She added that most businesses can stay open with safety measures in place, and that while people can go to work they should consider if working from home is possible.

“You can still go out for dinner, but make sure you are following all of the restaurant’s rules without exception,” she said, later clarifying that any restaurant visits should happen “with your household.”

“Be outside with one or two of your friends. Go for a walk, keep your distances, but no backyard barbecues right now,” she added. “Think about the things that we did in the spring. Socialize virtually, check in on those that you’re close to. Plan parties and celebrations for next year, when it is safe for us to get together again.”

Indoor and outdoor sports are somewhat different—sports that are non-contact can continue, like curling and swimming in pools, Henry said. Indoor contact sports should go back to Phase 2 of the sporting plans, which allows individual drills and practices but no games or scrimmages. Outdoor sport games can continue in local areas but should not include travel to other regions. A public health team is working to find out how indoor fitness classes can take place safely in the future.

New guidance will be on the BC Centre for Disease Control website in the coming days, Henry said.

She also announced 998 cases over two days—536 from Saturday to Sunday and 462 from Sunday to Monday. Of the weekend’s cases, 210 of them were in the Vancouver Coastal Health region (which includes Richmond), 737 were in the Fraser Health Region, and relatively low numbers in BC’s other three health authorities. Since the pandemic began, there have been 18,714 cases of the virus in BC.

Active cases have risen by more than 1,000 since Friday’s update and there are now 4,891 in all health regions. There are 9,179 people under active public health monitoring as a result of exposure to identified cases.

There were two new healthcare outbreaks and three existing outbreaks were declared over, leaving 37 outbreaks in the sector—32 in longterm care or assisted living facilities and five in acute care facilities.

With Remembrance Day coming up on Wednesday, Henry encouraged people to recognize the occasion virtually.

“Let’s honour and support our veterans everywhere by continuing to keep our community strong and bend our curve,” she said.

For a list of community exposure events, click here.

For the latest medical updates, including case counts, prevention, risks and testing, visit: http://www.bccdc.ca/ or follow @CDCofBC on Twitter.